


It's Going to Rain

by kateorangesky11



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:23:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6136525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kateorangesky11/pseuds/kateorangesky11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after losing his brother to the portal, Stan gets a letter from his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Going to Rain

Stan woke up knowing it was going to rain.

He palmed his aching shoulder as he unstuck his face from the physics textbook he’d been reading. He groaned and stretched, careful not to twist his back too much. He put on his glasses, and his reflection stared back at him from the safety glass.

“God, I’m old,” he muttered. He stood and shuffled to the elevator. He rode it up to the shop level, rubbing the sleep from his eyes the whole way.

He shut the vending machine and took a look out of the window. Clouds were forming in the south; the dark, menacing kind. He palmed his shoulder again and went out to the front door to grab the mail. _Bills, bills, and more bills._ Stanley was about to throw them in the trash when he saw an envelope that didn’t look like the others. It was purple and had pictures of flowers and balloons on the front.

 _Timothy and Ariel Pines_  
2630 Sunrise Drive  
Piedmont, California  
                                           Stanford Pines  
                                           618 Gopher Road  
                                           Gravity Falls, Oregon

 _Timothy and Ariel…_ Stan racked his brains. _Timothy? Shermy’s kid, Timothy. Right. And his wife. Geez, that little nerd got married? When did that happen?_ Stan rubbed a knuckle above his right eye to ease the headache growing there. Eighteen years and still, seeing someone hand-address something to his brother filled Stan with overwhelming guilt. He’d lied to his family. His brother’s family, he reminded himself. Not his. If they knew it was Stanley who was seeing these letters, living in this house…

Stan shook himself and shuffled to the kitchen. He tossed the bills in the trash, and took a knife out to open the letter. Whatever it was, he knew he couldn’t respond, but he couldn’t help but look anyway, even if it made him feel as though he were looking through a dead man’s eyes to a life he could have had. He shoved away that morbid thought and flipped over the card. _The stork has brought something special!_ it read. He opened it. A hand-written note was inside.

“Dear Uncle Stanford,” it read. “I know we haven’t seen you in a while, but my wife and I are having a baby! Well, actually, two. Isn’t that crazy?”  

Stan felt as though he’d taken a punch to the gut. He let it carry him to one of the kitchen chairs, where he sat with a thud. _Twins._ He knew he shouldn’t have opened the letter.

“We’re very excited, as you can imagine. Anyway, we know that you’re very busy up there, but Ariel and I were hoping that you could chance a trip down to California to come to the baby shower.” Shermy’s kid had then listed the date, time and venue of the shower.

Stan closed his eyes and groaned. _Twins. Another set of Pines twins_. His shoulder ached anew.

He had rested his brow in his hands, trying to push his headache away, when he saw a postscript.

“P.S.: Uncle Ford, I know it could be difficult coming to this. Especially after ~~Uncle Stan~~ your brother, that must hurt. ~~I couldn’t imagine~~   ~~He was~~ ~~Losing a twin must be~~ I am so sorry. I know it was a long time ago, ~~and I know your relationship with him was not very~~ but I’m sorry.”

It became difficult for Stan to swallow.

“But I think seeing your family could help. We have to band together, us Pineses. And I’d really like my children to know their Great Uncle.”

Stan’s eyes burned. He put a hand to his mouth.

“So I really hope that you’ll come, Uncle Stanford. It would mean a lot to me, and to all of us. Your family misses you.”

The rest of the card was blank. The message was finished.

Stan let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. His body shook. And he was right.

It did rain today.


End file.
